Will someone explain the Death Penalty?

[smu'06]

Sorry for the dumb question, but I will apply early to SMU in the fall, and have some questions about how SMU got into trouble? What exactly caused the occurence of the 'Death Penalty.'

[ponystudent]

Well, if you want a really good answer, go check out and read the book, <I>A Payroll to Meet.</I> I have not read the book yet but I am going to soon. I read the forward and a summary and it looks good, and it is not too long either.

Anyway, the Death Penalty was given to SMU and there was no football for the year of 1987 and they went on the cancel 1988 too. 1989 was the first year back.

We got the penalty because of the large amounts of money we were paying our players. We were on probation five times, I think, since 1958 or something like that and they finally handed it to us. I was too young at the time to know what was going on but I think cheating was real bad all over the nation, even worse than it is now. I was told by someone that SMU was not doing anything any worse than TCU or any other SWC schools, except for the fact that Bill Clements, who was the head of the board of trustees at the time and governor during a period, was leading the charge.

As I said I was young when this happened so my facts might not all be right on but here are some good stories I have heard.

I heard that Eric Dickerson admitted to taking a pay cut when he joined the NFL as a rookie from SMU. Dickerson also showed up to SMU in a camero given to him by A&M, which he continued to drive for three years while he was at SMU.

I also heard that Craig James made more than Dickerson.

I believe after the death penalty and scandals etc, Bill Clements told the press that he paid the players and would do it again if he had the chance.

After the head of the punishing committee of the NCAA addressed the media of the DP, he proceeded to faint.

The story of the DP is very interesting, and sad because it happened to SMU. It truly did put our football program to death, as it has been almost 12 years since we have had football back and we are still hurting...very badly.

Maybe some older, wiser Pony Fans can discuss this topic. If they choose to do so, please answer this question for me...Did we lose basketball too for 1987? I heard that bball program was just as corrupt as FB.

Grider, Old Jim, and HouStang might be able to answer some questions.

And if anyone has any good stories about it, please post them.

I think SMU was singled out for the DP. As I said, cheating was going on everywhere, and still does. Never again will a school get the DP and the NCAA used us as a test. They had no reason to help SMU, it is small, and by ruining SMU football the NCAA took no chance at loosing any revenue. They will always pick on us and discriminate against us because SMU is the whipping boy of the NCAA.

I say screw the NCAA, it is a bunch of people who love red tape and to take advantage of 18-23 year olds to make more money. They exploit the college athletes and give them very little in return.

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Go Ponies!

[smu'06]

Were any other schools part of the investigation? Why was SMU singled out with such a harsh crime. I know SEC Powerhouse Alabama has had its fair share of infractions as well, just to name another program that the NCAA may have had right to single out.

[Charleston Pony]

there was a lot of speculation as to "why SMU", but suffice it to say the NCAA was trying to curtail widespread cheating and we were an easy mark. Our state school rivals were not happy that we were suddenly beating them at their own game and were rumoured to have been feeding information to NCAA investigators. At one time, Eric Dickerson threatened to "tell all" about his recruitment (theoretically implicating UT, A$M, etc...). Eric quickly backed off saying it was too dangerous a place to go. I think he legitimately had concerns about his and his families' safety. You have to remember, football is religion for entirely too many people in this part of the country.

Bottom line is that we were as dirty as anyone and the NCAA needed to make a strong statement. I have it from a pretty good source that in the aftermath of SMU's penalty (enrollment dropped off, fund raising dropped and the school really went through a financial crisis), officials inside the NCAA'a enforcement division acknowledged they had grossly underestimated the impact on the school and did not forsee the death penalty being used again. Others have been "eligible" under the rules (most notably A$M, Clemson, Florida) but have always been given lesser penalties under the guise of having "cooperated fully" with the NCAA. I expect the same result in the Alabama case.

Anyways, we are trying to do things right these days and you see what it has done for us.

[Guest]

Good post CP. I dont want to be spiteful, but if we cant dig ourselves out of this hole by the time the last round of realignment comes, I'd like to see SMU go down swinging if we are going to go down. By that I mean, dump some money into a giant anti-trust suit against the BCS and NCAA. Somebody has to lead the charge and it might as well be us. Politics might keep us from winning once again, but at least we could give the proverbial finger to the NCAA as we rode into the sunset. I'm all for playing by the rules and we did break em, but I disagree with the famous statement quoting Kipling that Dr. Pye once made that we basically got what we deserved. Justice has to be blind and even-handed, and I dont think there is any real doubt that it wasnt either one back in 1986 during that period of college athletics. We probably couldnt sue to dispute the original punishment, but the veil of hypocricy and past damages would be there to aid the anti-trust case. Long live the Boulevard.

[Grider]

Although this topic pains me, it is very interesting. No one will deny what was going on at SMU before the DP, and you all are right, most of the other successful programs were doing the same thing. It was all fun and games until we started pulling recruits and revenue away from the big state schools(UT).
Although, SMU had plenty of funds, they didn't have the broad stretching base of UT. Rumor has it the Horns, or folks associated with them, had a lot to do with the NCAA investigation and the eventual DP(and the eventual collapse of the SWC). Quite frankly what SMU did ticked a lot of folks off. These guys like Clements wanted a good football team, so they said the hell with it, and went and bought em one. In reality, a lot of programs did that, but SMU was very matter of fact about it all. And, like I said, it ticked some folks off.
There was a lot of cheating going on back then, and the NCAA made an example of them. Why not? As I said before, they don't have that large of an alumni base when you compare it to any state schools, and a lot of people out there already didn't like SMU because it had a traditionally elitist scent about it. Sure, it would tick a few people off, but it wouldn't have the same consequences of giving the DP to a large state school.
I've been looking hard and heavy for a copy of "A payroll to meet"(it's pretty hard to find) and if I'm correct it delves a lot deeper into all of this and how UT was involved in the whole debacle. CP, I would go as far as to say you will never see another death penalty handed out by the NCAA.

As for basketball, we weren't given the DP, but old A. Kenneth Pye, sure did refuse to allow Larry Johnson to play in Moody. Our b-ball program could be a little different if Larry would have worn the red and blue. But Who knows?

There are lots of good stories about the pre-dp days. Some are true, some are probably not...it adds to the mystique. But, they're best told over a double scotch on the rocks.
LONG LIVE THE MUSTANGS!!!!!!

[NavyCrimson]

that book - "a payroll to meet" (in fact, i read it here in ventura county a couple of yrs ago).....
says it all - i don't agree with all of it but it sure as $%#@# implicates arkansas, a$m & texas re their shenanigans!!!!

that was a slight case of satisfaction - but only slight!!!!

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[No Quarter]

Anyone who wants a copy of "Payroll" might check with "abeboks.com" for the cheapest used copy.

[smu'06]

Maybe we can get the author to answer questions/ provide insight for the board.

[H-E-B Mustang]

I have read the book. And, smu'06, you don't want to hear anything that the author has to say. He is an East Coast elitist (from Boston, I think), with a clearly condescending tone and totally lacking in objectivity. He had nothing at all good to say about SMU - athletics, academics, or the students. He had the transparent purpose of making us out in the worst possible light. The reason he cited the transgressions of UT-Austin, Texas A&M, and Ark was not to justify our actions. It was to show that this whole part of the country was filled was cheaters.

I agree with what has been said above - that as a relatively small private schoool, we were an easy target. It has been said that the DP was exploratory surgery, and the patient died. Don't look for it to be ever used again.

That whole situation was unfortunate. Our best course of action is to put the DP behind us and face our current circumstances.

As I said, I have read the book. But I have the satisfaction that I borrowed it from the public library and did not pay for it.

[smu'06]

Has anyone picked up the latest Sporting News, in one of the college football articles, it mentions pay for play and pretty much accuses the University of Florida of the practice.

[No Quarter]

SMU'06,
"Payroll" was copyrighted in '89. I remember visiting Dallas a year or three later and seeing the book "remaindered" in a mall bookstore north of the LBJ. I doubt the author has any interest today in offering more comment or insight.
I was no longer a Dallas, or even a Texas resident when Football I ended at SMU, but subscribed to the Dallas papers at that time and read every issue of Texas Football including the newsletters. I also saw quite a few D and Texas Monthly magazines and chanced to see some of the most damning TV news reports.
I agree that the author of "Payroll" was trying to sell books and up to a point that many schools, down to the present, have gotten away with the things that caused our program to be shut down, and that it is unlikely that any large program (perhaps no program again) will be so penalized.
Having said that, well, go and look for youself in the library. Read this board, and the other for a while. You'll get a lot of insights. Decide for youself.

And, someone tell the what questions the NCAA was asking in Tuscaloosa last week.